Chillproofing of beverages using insoluble polymer-enzyme product

ABSTRACT

IMPROVED PROCESS FOR CHILLPROOFING OF BEVERAGES, ESPECIALLY MALT BEVERAGES, USING INSOLUBLE POLYMER-ENZYME PRODUCTS. PERMITS REMOVAL OF ENZYME, REUSE AND ATTENDANT ECONOMIES AND ALSO PROVIDES IMPROVED CHILLPROOFING STABILITY, CLARITY, AND TASTE IN THE BEVERAGE TREATED; BEVERAGES CHILLPROOFED IN THIS MANNER.

United States Patent US. CI. 99-48 30 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Improved process for chillproofing of beverages, especially malt beverages, using insoluble polymer-enzyme products. Permits removal of enzyme, reuse and attendant economies and also provides improved chillproofing stability, clarity, and taste in the beverage treated; beverages chillproofed in this manner.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Field of invention Chillproofing product quality.

of beverages; improved efficiency and Prior art Chillproofing of beverages dates back to the early 1900s and in the case of beer is summarized in a series of patents (U.S. 995,820; 995,823-995,826) and in a paper presented at the Proc. 2nd Intl. Brewers Congress, Chicago, I, 294 (1911). These reported studies introduced the concept of enzyme treatment for clarification of beer. More recent reviews include: Wallerstein Lab. Communications 24, No. 84, 158-168, 232-242 (1961) with particular reference to p. 160; Some Physical and Chemical Properties of Commercial Chillproofing Compounds, H. E. Weissler and A. C. Garza, Ann. Proc. Am. Soc. Brewing Chemists 1965, pp. 225-238. Further related enzyme treatment is found in US. 3,055,757 (i.e., use of chitinase). The subject is further reviewed in sections of several books: Enzymes in Food Processing, Gerald Reed, Editor, Academic Press, New York (1966) pp. 339344; Handbook of Food Additives, Thomas E. Furia, Editor, The Chemical Rubber Co., Cleveland, Ohio, (1968), p. 87; and Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Kirk-Othmer, 2nd ed., vol. III, pp. 297-338 (1965).

Summary of the invention The invention relates to improved enzyme processing of fermented malt beverages and other nondistilled alcoholic beverages for purposes of providing a stabilized, enhanced appearance and improved flavor at the time of use. Current enzyme treatements leave active enzyme in the product which may have deleterious efiects and which in any event present another active entity, namely, the enzyme, for intake into the human body. The present invention relates to utility of insoluble polymer-enzyme products in such an enzymatic treatment of beverages. It discloses new and improved beverages based on the ability to remove all enzyme activity prior to consumption of the beverage and it fosters process economies based on recoverability and reuseability of the enzyme-polymer products employed.

In view of the fact that enzymes have been used for such an extensive period in the chillproofing of beverages and, in general, left in the beverage up through packaging and until consumption of the beverage, and since tastes of consumers have become acclimated to the final taste sensations as produced by the brewing process including the presence of residual enzymes and the by-products and products of their reactions with components of the beverage up through packaging and until ultimate consumption, it is remarkable that the tastefullness of beverages chillproofed with the polymer-enzyme products of the invention but from which the insoluble polymerenzyme product has been removed is not impaired. Quite to the contrary and entirely unpredictably, however, the taste of the ultimate beverage chillproofed according to the present invention is not impaired, but is rather found by the great majority of consumers to have an enhanced or improved flavor and certainly a flavor at least equal to that of a corresponding beverage chillproofed in conventional manner. Since the chillproofing agents of the invention are insoluble, they can be completely removed from the beverage, leaving the beverage free of enzymes which are non-indigenous to the beverage by its very nature. However, it is obvious that, in cases where producer or consumer demands require an enzyme of One type or another, e.g. pepsin, as a digestant or for some other reason, the introduction of such further ingredient into the beverage at any suitable stage of its production before packaging is a simple expedient.

Objects The objects of the instant invention include the provision of a process for the production of nondistilled alcoholic beverages which retain clarity upon chilling, even after periods of prolonged aging, while at the same time possessing improved characteristics including improved flavor, apparently resulting from removal of the polymer-enzyme treating agent from the product, and beverages produced in this manner. Other objects will become apparent hereinafter, and still other objects will be obvious to one skilled in the art.

General description of invention Fermented malt beverages such as beer and ale are today Widely distributed in convenient individualized containers such as glass bottles and cans. Such containers, of course, are subject for varying lengths of time to a wide variety of temperature and other storage and shipping conditions that might adversely affect their contents. In addition variable amounts of air, which appears to have a particularly deleterious effect on the stability of malt beverages, may enter the container during filling, thereby resulting in a reduction of the normal shelf-life of the beer and in the production of haze and turbidity.

It is of course necessary, in order to obtain consumer acceptance, that the individual containers of beverage yield upon opening a product that is brilliant in visual appearance andpleasing in taste. Since the container prior to opening is commonly transported and stored for long periods of time at room temperature or higher, and then subjected to chilling conditions, it is necessary that the contents withstand such storage without change.

Fermented malt beverages such as beers, ales, and the like are produced by the fermentation with yeast of worts obtained from mashes of barley malt and grains. After fermentation, the beers so obtained are carried through various operations such as cold storage, carbonation, filtration, etc., in order to obtain the clear carbonated beverage ready for packaging. During the brewery operations, the beer is subjected to a process step known in the trade as chillproofing.

When beers are subjected to low temperatures, as occur, for example, during conventional refrigeration and these beers have not been chillproofed, a haze or turbidity forms in the beer as a consequence of the presence of high molecular weight, protein-like compounds and proteincomplexes involving carbohydrates, phenols, tannins, etc., that tend to become insoluble when the temperature is reduced. Chillproofing is a step in the brewing process that produces a beer which will remain clear and brilliant at low temperatures. The chillproofing process was introduced to the art of brewing many years ago when the value of proteolytic enzymes for such use was first demonstrated.

chillproofing comprises treating the beer or ale after fermentation with certain proteolytic enzymes. During the next phase, or pasteurization, the enzymatic activity is accelerated to prevent formation of haze-producing complexes. A residual enzymatic activity remains after pasteurization. The enzyme papain is commonly used for chillproofing. While it has successfully chillproofed millions of barrels of beer, it is not necessarily the best material for that purpose.

Deleterious factors, such as oxidation and the presence of traces of metals, may adversely affect the shelf life of beer not only because of well-known reactions with beer constituents to produce unstable compounds causing hazes and sediments, but also because of inactivation by further reactions of the enzymes surviving the pasterurization process of the final package. The inactivation action or reaction of the oxygen and metals on or with the enzymes may not be direct but through an intermediate action on certain oxidizable components present in beer. These compounds may form complexes or chelates with the trace metals which readily become highly oxidized to form oxygen donors which then react in turn with the enzymes.

During the course of such oxidation, their complex systems may become insoluble and contribution to the formation of hazes and turbidities and moreover adversely affect desirable foaming characteristics.

In addition to contributing to the physical instability, residual enzymes may also adversely affect flavor stability by the same mechanism, since it is well known that certain oxidation products possess highly undesirable flavor characteristics.

In the past, chillproofing enzymes (e.g., papain) have been added to the beer in the form of dry, comminuted solids alone or in admixture with other solid materials. (See US. Pats. 995,820; 995,823; 2,077,448 and 2,077,449). More recently, liquid forms of proteolytic enzymes, alleged to have certain advantages, have become available for such use. (See US. Pat. 3,095,358). All of the forms of proteolytic enzymes previously employed, and the procedures for their use in the chillproofing of beverages, have been attended by disadvantages of the type previously cited.

Other methods of chillproofing beer are known, such as the adsorption and removal by filtration of the chill-haze substances using materials such as bentonite, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and nylon. Neither the proteolytic enzymes nor adsorption materials mentioned above are the most ideal chillproofing materials.

It has now been discovered that a heretofore-unrecognized chillproofing system resides in the employment of polymer-enzyme products in which selected enzymes are covalently bonded to polymeric organic molecules such as EMA. Such enzymes can be obtained from plants, animals, and microorganisms which include bacteria, yeasts, fungi and the like by using well-known fermentation methods such as those generally described in Kirk and Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology 8, 173 204, and a great many of them are available commercially.

The exact activity of the enzymes employed as starting material depends on the exact method of preparation and is not critical to the present invention providing only that the enzymatically active polymer-enzyme product produced therefrom has the desired enzymatic activity. Various analytical methods are available to determine the activity of enzymatically active material, for example, the protease activity of proteolytic enzymes can be determined by well-known casein digestion methods, such as the Kunitz test or the Anson variation thereof. According to this test, a protease catalyzes the hydrolysis of casein for a certain period of time and temperature and at a certain pH; the reaction is stopped by the addition of trichloroacetic acid, and the solution is filtered. The color of the filtrate is developed by a Folin phenol reagent, and the level of enzyme activity is measured spectrophotometrically in units of casein tyrosine per unit time. This method is more fully described in the Journal of General Physiology 30, 291 (1947) and in Methods of Enzymology 2, page 33, Academic Press, New York, 1955. Amylase activity is generally determined by the Well-known dextrin test or the dinitrosalicylic acid method of Bernfeld. The chillproofing activity of an enzyme, e.g., papain, and its proteolytic activity are not necessarily identical properties and it may be that the two are not even closely related.

There are reports in the literature that certain substances have shown good chillproofing ability, yet exhibit only a very low order of proteolytic activity. The reverse may also be found to exist. Therefore, the true value of any preparation must be confirmed by actual beer clarity tests.

It has been found that heating bottled beer for successive time periods at 35 C. and then cooling to 0 C. for 24 hours constitutes a reproducible test method. Using untreated beed as control, the value of chillproofing material can be established with a fair degree of accuracy, even though the amount of turbidity produced in untreated beers may vary somewhat with the specific product under investigation, mainly due to variations in production procedures and raw materials employed by different breweries. (Off. Methods of Anal, Assoc. of Off. Agri. Chem. 1965, 144153). Enzmes which can be converted to active insoluble products useful in terms of the defined invention include: papain, chymopapain, ficin, asclepain, brornelain, pepsin, any of several fungal and bacterial proteases (e.g., B. subrilz's neutral protease, Aspergillus Oryzae acid protease, B. cereus acid protease, etc.), chitinase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin. Euch enzymes may be attached to neutral polymers or to polymers bearing negative or positive charges. The specific choices of the polymer carrier depend upon the affinity of the polymerenzyme complex for the substrate and upon the optimum pH for activity of the complex vs. the optimum pH for digestion of the substrate (i.e., the complex is tailored for optimization of the catalytic digestion process).

A number of these enzymes (e.g., pepsin) are acid proteases whose ph for optimum activity is in the range 1-3. Since the pH of beers is in the range of 4-5, these acid pH enzymes exhibit greatly reduced activity at the pH of beer. Utilization of selected polymers for enzyme attachment raises the pH for optimum activity by l3 units, thus making these acid proteases much more suitable and effective for chillproofing beverages. This can be achieved, for example, by attaching these enzymes to carrier polymers containing an excess of negatively charged groups, such as carboxyl groups, or groups which convert thereto upon hydrolysis.

As previously indicated, the compositions of hazeforming complexes vary in their chemical nature. To prevent build-up of these complexes, a multiplicity of enzymatic activity is frequently useful. For example, proteases, carbohydrases, phenolic oxidases, and/or tannases can be useful either individually or more particularly in combinations, dependent upon the dominant compounds making up the haze.

A particularly effective source of mixed enzymes which can be used as starting material for the enzyme-polymer products which are used in the present invention is a mutated Bacillus subtilis organism. The process for producing this organism and enzymes therefrom is described in US. Pat. 3,031,380. A culture of this Bacillus subtilis (species AM) organism has been deposited with the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Northern Utilization Research and Development Division, 1815 N. University St. Peoria, Ill. 61604, and has been assigned No. NRRL B-3411. The enzymatically active material produced by this organism has been found to consist of two proteases, approximately 65-75% neutral protease (activity at a pH of 7.07.5) and about 25-35% alkaline protease (activity at a pH of 9 to 10). A significant amount of amylase is also present. There are generally about 700 thousand to about 1.2 million units of neutral protease activity per gram and about 250 thousand to about 400 thousand units of alkaline protease activity per gram as determined by Ansons variation of the Kunitz Casein method. There are generally about 300 thousand to 350 thousand units of amylase activity per gram as determined by the Bernfeld method. As pointed out in the cited patent, the relative proportions of protease to amylase will vary depending on the exact conditions of growth of the microorganism, but We have found that the neutral and alkaline protease and the amylase will always be produced, in at least some amounts, almost regardless of changes in the culture medium and other conditions of growth of the microorganism. The ratio of the activity of the alkaline protease to the activity of the neutral protease in the starting materials and in the polymer-enzyme product is preferably no greater than about 0.25-1.2 to one.

Another source of mixed enzymes which can be used as starting material in accord with the present invention is B. subtilis strain NRRL 644, B. subtilis strain NRRL 941, and B. subtilis strain IAM 1523 (Japanese Culture Collection). Still other B. subtilis microorganisms are available which produce protease, mixtures of proteases, or protease and amylase, at least to a limited if not optimum extent. The so-called Streptomyces griseus neutral protease has a broad pH activity range and may constitute one starting enzyme for incorporation into thepolymer-enzyme products of the invention.

Still another source of mixed enzymes having utility in insoluble polymeric form is pancreatin obtained from various animal sources. These extracts contain broad enzymatic activities including protease and diastatic activity.

The exact form in which these insoluble polymer-enzyme. products are employed is immaterial. The resins suitable for the practice of this invention may be insolubilized prior to attachment or concurrently with attachment. Alternatively the enzyme-polymer product may be insolubilized subsequent to the attachment step. Such in solubilization permits removal at will of enzymatic activity so that the catalytic digestion can be run under controlled conditions of time and temperature. This enables one to better control the quality of the final beverage product and improves economics of treatment by permitting reuse. With relation to malt beverages, such as beer and ale, it also permits enzyme treatment in countries where foreign inclusions in the beverage are prohibited by law. Such a system effectively chillproofs beer in an efficient and superior manner. A distinct and very important advantage exists due to the highly insoluble nature of the system which makes it possible to utilize the chillproofing properties more than once.

The importance of this discovery becomes readily obvious when the economics of the present and the new method of chillproofing are compared. Currently the brewery adds a specified amount of standard chillproofing enzyme preparation to a known volume of beer, i.e., one pound of chillproofing preparation per 100 or 200 barrels of beer. The cost of this treatment ranges between 2-4 per barrel.

The insoluble polymer-enzyme product can be advantageously introduced into the brewing process at any of several stages. It can be added to the cooled wort prior to fermentation in which case the objectionable precursors of haze are digested during the fermentation process. In this instance, it is advantageous to use a product crosslinked to a somewhat lesser degree so that, while it remains insoluble, it is nonetheless in a gelatinous form which remains in suspension in the beer during the process of removing the yeast which settles after fermentation. Thus the insoluble yeast is removed by decantation techniques while the enzymatic activity continues through the ruh and storage stages and up to the filtration step at which time the insoluble polymerenzyme product is removed for reuse. The insoluble polymer-enzyme product may also be added at later stages (e.g., during fermentation or storage) in keeping with traditional manufacturing processes. A further exemplification of the subject invention involves the pumping of storage beer through a filter-type unit containing the insoluble polymer-enzyme product, this unit being maintained at a temperature consistent with the optimum activity-temperature of the specific polymer-enzyme product or products being used. This effiuent beer is then cooled, bottled and, where desired, pasteurized in accordance with procedures known to the art. The invention is applicable to the various malt beverages including beers and ales and to other nondistilled alcoholic beverages including wines, syrups, cordials, liqueurs, fruit brandies, etc.

POLYMERIC REACTANT-CROSSLINKING- WATER-INSOLUBILITY In its broadest context, the polymer to which the enzyme is coupled for use according to one or more aspects of the invention contains carboxyl or anhydride linkages, especially where the enzyme contains an amino, hydroxyl, or sulfhydryl group not essential for its enzymatic activity. Where the enzyme contains a carboxyl group not essential for activity, the polymer can contain hydroxyl or amine groups for reaction therewith. The polymer may be EMA or an EMA-type polymer, or be any of those types previously disclosed for coupling reactions with an enzyme, and in any event it is adapted to couple or react with the enzyme to effect covalent bonding and production of the desired enzyme-polymer product.

Since covalent bonding is desired, it is understood that the carrier polymer is tailored to contain at least one reactive site for each polymer molecule with which the enzyme can react, either directly or indirectly, to product a covalent bond. According to the instant invention, this reactive site (or sites) is preferably a carboxyl or carboxylic anhydride group.

Among the polymers suitable for the practice of the instant invention, polymeric polyelectrolytes having units of the formula I l X Y 11 wherein: R and R are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen (preferably chlorine), alkyl of 1 to 4 carbon atoms (preferably methyl), cyano, phenyl, or mixtures thereof; provided that not more than one of R and R is phenyl; Z is a bivalent radical (preferably alkylene, phenylalkylene, lower-alkoxyalkylene, and lower-alphatic acylalkylene) of 1 to 18 carbon atoms, q is zero or one, X and Y are selected from hydroxy,

is zero or one, wherein R is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, phenylalkyl, or phenyl, in each case of l to 18 carbon atoms, wherein R is H or R, wherein Q is oxygen or NR, and wherein W is a bivalent radical preferably selected from lower-alkylene, phenyl, phenylalkyl, phenylalkylphenyl, and alkylphenylalkyl having up to 20 carbon atoms, X and Y taken together can be an oxygen atom, and at least one of X and Y being hydroxyl or X and Y together constituting an oxygen atom, are preferred. Many of these polymers are commercially available and others are simple derivatives of commercially available products, which can be readily prepared either prior to or simultaneously with the enzyme coupling reaction, or produced as a minor modification of the basic polymer after coupling. Such polymers containing the above-described EMA-type units are hereinafter referred to as an EMA-type polymer.

Since enzyme molecules commonly have an extremely high molecular weight, even if the polymeric units exemplified as usable for attachment of the enzyme occurs only once in a polymer chain, for example, once in every several hundred units, reaction of the enzyme with this unit will result in an enzyme-polymer product having substantial enzymatic activity and one wherein the enzyme moiety constitutes a substantial portion of the molecular weight of the polymeric enzyme product. If more than one of the exemplified units is present, multiple attachments can be achieved with increased enzymatic activity of the product. As pointed out hereinafter, preferably the units of the formula given are recurring, n being at least 8. When the units are recurring, the symbols in the various recurring units do not necessarily stand for the same thing in all of the recurring units. Moreover, where the units are recurring, some of the X and Y groups may have meanings besides hydroxy or oxygen. For example, some, but not all, of them may be present in the form of imide groups, that is, groups in which X and Y together are NR- or NW----(NRR') wherein R, W and R have the values previously assigned.

A preferred type of polymeric material useful in the practice of the invention is the polymer of an olefinically unsaturated polycarboxylic acid or derivative with itself or in approximately equimolar proportions with at least one other monomer copolymerizable therewith. The polycarboxylic acid derivative can be of the nonvicinal type, including acrylic acid, acrylic anhydride, methacrylic acid, crotonic acid or their respective derivatives, including partial salts, amines, and esters or of the vicinal type, including maleic, itaconic, citraconic, a,u-dimethyl maleic, a-butyl maleic, a-phenyl maleic, fumaric, aconitic, u-chloromaleie, a-bromomaleic, a-cyanomaleic acids including their partial salts, amides and esters. Anhydrides of any of the foregoing acids are advantageously employed.

Comonomers suitable for use with the above functional monomers include oc-OlEfiIlS such as ethylene, propylene, isobutylene, lor 2-butene, l-hexene, l-octene, l-decene, l-dodecene, l-octadecene, and other vinyl monomers such as styrene, a-methyl styrene, vinyl toluene, vinyl acetate, vinyl amine, vinyl chloride, vinyl formate, vinyl propionate, vinyl alkyl ethers, e.g, methylvinylether, alkyl acrylates, alkyl methacrylates, acrylamides and alkylacrylamides, or

mixtures of these monomers Reactivity of some functional groups in the copolymers resulting from some of these monomers permits formation of other useful functional groups in the formed copolymer including hydroxy lactone amine and lactam groups.

Any of the said polybasic acid derivatives may be copolymerized with any of the other monomers described above and any other monomer which forms a copolymer with dibasic acid derivatives. The polybasic acid derivatives can be copolymers with a plurality of comonomers, in which case the total amount of the comonomers will preferably be about equimolar with respect to the polybasic acid derivatives. Although these copolymers can be prepared by direct polymerization of the various monomers, frequently they are more easily prepared by an afterreaction modification of an existing copolymer.

Copolymers of anhydrides and another monomer can be converted to carboxyl-containing copolymers by reaction with water, and to ammonium, alkali and alkaline earth metal and alkylamine salts thereof by reaction with alkali metal compounds, alkaline earth metal compounds, amines, ammonia, either prior to, during, or subsequent to enzyme attachment, etc. Other suitable derivatives of the above polymers include the partial alkyl or other esters and partial amides, alkyl amides, dialkyl amides, phenylalkyl amides or pheny amides prepared by reacting carboxy groups on the polymer chain with the selected amines or alkyl or phenylalkyl alcohol as well as amino esters, amino amides, hydroxy amides and hydroxy esters, wherein the functional groups are separated by lower-alkylene, phenyl, phenylalkyl, phenylalkylphenyl, or alkyphenylalkyl, which are prepared in the same manner in each case with due consideration of preservation of enzyme attachment sites as previously stated. Other aryl groups may be present in place of phenyl groups. Particularly useful derivatives are those in which negatively-charged carboxyl groups are partially replaced with amine or amine salt groups. These are formed by reaction of said carboxyls with polyamines such as dimethylaminopropylamine or dialkylamino-alcohols such as dimethylaminoethanol, the former forming an amide linkage'with the polymer and the latter an ester linkage. Suitable selection of the above derivatives permits control of several parameters of performance for the enzyme-polymer product of the invention.

Representative dibasic acid or anhydride-olefin polymers, especially maleic acid or anhydride-olefin polymers, of the foregoing type (EMA-type) are known, for exam le, from U. S. Pats. 2,378,629; 2,396,785; 3,157,595 and 3,- 340,680. Generally, the copolymers are prepared by reacting ethylene or other unsaturated monomer or mixtures thereof, as previously described, with the acid anhydride in the presence of a peroxide catalyst in an aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon solvent for the monomers but nonsolvent for the interpolymer formed. Suitable solvents include benzene, toluene, xylene, chlorinated benzene and the like. While benzoyl peroxide is usually the preferred catalyst, other peroxides such as acetyl peroxide, butyryl peroxide, (ii-tertiary butyl peroxide, lauroyl peroxide and the like, or any of the numerous azo catalysts, are satisfactory since they are soluble in organic solvents. The copolymer preferably contains substantially equirnolar quantities of the olefin residue and the anhydride residue. Generally, it will have a degree of polymerization of 8 to 10,- 000, preferably about to 5,000, and a molecular weight of about 1,000 to 1,000,000, preferably about 10,000 to 500,000. The properties of the polymer, such as molecular weight, for example, are regulated by proper choice of the catalyst and control of one or more of the variables such as ratio of reactants, temperature, and catalyst concentration or the addition of regulating chain transfer agents, such as diisopropyl benzene, propionic acid, alkyl aldehydes, or the like. The product is obtained in solid form and is recovered by filtration, centrifugation or the like. Removal of any residual or adherent solvent can be effected by evaporation using moderate heating. Numerous of these polymers are commercially available. Particularly valuable copolymers are those derived from ethylene and maleic anhydride in approximately equimolar proportions. The product is commercially available.

The maleic anhydride copolymers thus obtained have repeating anhydride linkages in the molecule, which are readily hydrolyzed by water to yield the acid form of the copolymer, rate of hydrolysis being proportional to temperature. In view of the fact that the coupling reactions of the present invention are carried out in aqueous solutrons or suspensions, or using Water-solvent mixtures, the product of the covalent bonding (coupling) of the enzyme to EMA has carboxyl or carboxylate groups attached to its chains adjacent the coupled enzyme instead of anhydride groups, due to hydrolysis of the anhydride groups, which do not react with the enzymes during the coupling reaction. The same is true of nonreacting anhydride groups present in other polymers, such as EMA-type polymers, which hydrolyze to carboxyl or carboxylate groups during the coupling reaction.

The term water-insoluble, as already stated, when applied means that the product concerned does not dissolve in water or aqueous solutions, even though it may have such characteristics as a high degree of swelling due to solvation by water, even to the extent of existence in a gel form. Water-insoluble" products can be separated by methods including filtration, centrifugation, or sedimentation. Such characteristics are imparted by crosslinking.

Thus, water-insoluble products, according to the invention, are produced by reacting the enzyme with a waterinsoluble polymer or by causing the reaction product of the enzyme-polymer or inactivated enzyme-polymer to become insoluble either by reaction with a polyfunctional crosslinking agent, such as a polyamine or polyol (including glycol), when this is necessary. The reaction product of the enzyme-polymer or inactivated enzyme-polymer product is often insoluble per se because of interaction between the enzyme moiety and additional polymer chains. If the polymer is precrosslinked so as to have a three-dimensional structure or, in some cases, has a sufficiently long linear chain length, the starting polymer is already water-insoluble. Other methods of crosslinking exist and are well known in the art. Further detailed description follows.

Insolubilization via crosslinking can be introduced at any of three stages in the preparation of products of this invention:

(1) The carrier polymer may be crosslinked prior to attachment of the enzyme by any of several procedures well known in the art of polymer reactions (e.g., incorporation of multifunctional unsaturated monomers during preparation of the polymer or subsequent reaction of the polymer with a few mole percent of multifunctional amines, glycols, etc.).

(2) Multifunctional amines, glycols, etc., can be added concurrently with the enzyme in the enzyme-attachment or coupling step.

(3) A multifunctional crosslinking agent may be added to the product after the enzyme has been attached. Such crosslinking agents are added in controllable amounts sufficient to insolubilize the product.

PROCESS FOR PREPARING POLYMER-ENZYME PRODUCTS Polymer-enzyme derivatives can be prepared by reacting the crystalline or crude enzyme or mixture of enzymes with the polymer in solution, resulting in formation of a polymeric product in which the enzyme is covalently bound. Reaction of polymer with a plurality of enzymes can obviously be carried out stepwise, one enzyme at a time, with or without intermediate isolation, or with all enzymes at once. The latter procedure is preferred for reasons of time, convenience and economy. When an anhydride or carboxyl is present in the polymer, e.g., an EMA-type polymer, covalent bonding of the enzyme to the polymer may be effected directly through reaction or coupling with an anhydride group or with a carboxyl group using a carboxyl activating agent. The product is the same in both cases. The pH range for the reaction der pends upon the enzyme employed and its stability range. It is usually about 5 to 9.5, preferably about 6 to 8, but adjustment must be made for individual cases. Isolation and purification is generally effected according to normal biochemical procedures. Since covalent bonding of the enzyme to the polymer is desired, the reaction is ordinarily carried out at low temperatures and at relatively neutral pHs, in water or dilute aqueous buffer as solvent.

When carried out in this manner, the results are production of the desired active polymer-enzyme derivative, but degree of activity imparted to the polymeric product is sometimes lower than desired, possibly due to partial inactivation of the enzyme during the process. Resort may frequently advantageously be had to employment of a mixed solvent system, using a solvent in which the enzyme is at least partially soluble, usually in an amount up to about 50% by volume. Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) is especially suitable as solvent together with water or aqueous buffer solution in a mixed solvent system. Using such a mixed solvent system, the desired active polymer-enzyme 16 product is ordinarily obtained in higher yields and conversions to desirably active product, and introduction of desirably high amounts of enzyme activity into the polymer molecule is generally less difficult.

The polymer in such reaction preferably contains carboxyl or anhydride linkages, especially where the enzyme contains an amino, hydroxyl (including phenolic hydroxyl), or sulfhydryl group not essential for its enzymatic activity. The polymer is preferably EMA or an EMA-type polymer, but it can be any of those types herein disclosed for coupling or reaction with an enzyme, and in any event it is adapted to effect covalent bonding with the enzyme to produce a polymer-enzyme product either directly or indirectly using an activating agent. Inasmuch as the enzymatic activity of the starting enzyme is desired to be retained in the final product, it is of course firstly necessary that bonding of the enzyme to the polymer be through a group which will not result in inactivation of an active site in the enzyme molecule. Among the various reactive groups of enzyme molecules may be mentioned, besides amino and sulfhydryl, also hydroxyl (including phenolic hydroxyl), carboxyl and imidazolyl. Such groups are present in free or unbound form in inactive portions of enzyme molecules, as in a lysine, cysteine, serine, threonine, histidine, or tyrosine moiety of an enzyme molecule, where the particular moiety in question is not considered essential for enzymatic activity. Therefore, attachment to the polymer molecule is through reaction of the polymer with such group so as to avoid inactivation of the enzyme during attachment to the polymer molecule. Generally the linkage is an amide, imide, ester, thioester, or disulfide group such as formed by the carboxyl or anhydride with an amine or hydroxyl group in a non-essential moiety of the enzyme protein chain. Amides are conveniently formed by reacting pendant amino groups of the enzyme with carboxylic anhydride groups on the carrier polymer in water, in aqueous buffer media, or in mixed solvents. Amides, imides and esters are readily formed by activating carboxyl groups of the polymer, and reacting them with respective hydroxyl, amine or mercaptan groups on the other reactant. Such activation may be effected using various carbodiimides, carbodiimidazoles, Woodwards or Sheehans reagent, or the like, to form highly active intermediates capable of reacting with groups in the enzyme under mild conditions, the latter favoring retention of enzymatic activity.

The polymer selected for such reaction can therefore be said to be adapted to couple or react with the enzyme, either directly or indirectly through use of an activating agent, as already indicated, and in any event to effect covalent bonding with the enzyme. The attachment procedures employed are conducted by techniques adapted to include any requisite protection for the enzyme, which may include a reversible blocking of the enzymatically active site or sites, as for example in the case of papain, where mercuripapain or zinc papain may be employed as an intermediate for reaction with the polymer in order to effect greater yields upon attachment, the protecting atoms being removed subsequent to the attachment reaction.

In addition, the enzyme reactant to be attached or coupled to the polymer is commonly multifunctional in itself and thus contributes to the three-dimensional network character of the product. In fact, in many cases, the insolubilization eifected in this manner alone is sufiicient to impart insoluble characteristics to the product without use of additional crosslinking agents.

When markedly insoluble products are the objective, it is often advantageous to employ copolymers which already contain some crosslinking. Such crosslinked copolymers are known and are obtainable by conducting the polymerization, e.g., the copolymerization of maleic anhydride and hydrocarbon olefin, in the presence of a cross linking agent, e.g., a compound containing two olefinic double bonds, such as divinylbenzene or vinylcrotonate, poly-1,2-butadiene or alpha, omega-diolefins. The quantity 1 l of crosslinking agent will vary with the degree of insolubility desired, but generally will be on the order of from 0.1% to 10% by weight of the total monomer mixture.

As one example of procedure for preparation of the three-dimension polymer network, where necessary or desirable, a difunctional compound can be used for crosslinking a preformed dibasic acid/C -C monoolefin copolymer. This can be achieved by reaction between the copolymer and a polyamine, e.g., from 0.1 to 10 mole percent of ethylenediamine. Thus, the quantity of crosslinking of the overall polymer can be controlled. It is understood that ethylenediamine is a typical example of a crosslinking reagent, but many other compounds, such as the group of alkylene and other similar polyamines, can be used for this purpose.

Preferred polymers are selected from the group consisting of:

ethylene/maleic anhydride copolymer, styrene/maleic anhydride copolymer,

vinyl methyl ether/maleic anhydride copolymer, vinylacetate/maleic anhydride copolymer, divinyl-ether/maleic anhydride cyclocopolymer, polymaleic anhydride and polyacrylic anhydride,

and preferred enzymes are selected from the group consisting of papain (including zinc papain), neutral protease, acid protease, and ficin,

and combinations thereof. Such combinations of two or more enzyme-polymer products produce results superior to those obtained when only a single enzyme-polymer product is employed and accordingly represents one preferred embodiment of the process. Use of combinations of a plurality of enzymes in the form of a single polymerplural enzyme molecule is also contemplated by the present invention and represents another preferred embodiment thereof, inasmuch as a multiplicity of enzymatic activities can in this manner be imparted to the beverage at once, in the form of a stable product which is not subject to autolysis as are combinations or mere mixtures of enzymes. For example, a polymer-enzyme product containing a protease and an amylase or diastase, or containing pepsin and papain, has been found especially suitable for use according to the invention and such use represents an especially preferred embodiment of the invention. Although enzymes other than those named in the foregoing may certainly be present in the molecule of the polymer-enzyme product employed, such as an alkaline protease, the acidic nature of the beer makes it doubtful that any polymerenzyme product which is not effective in the acidic ranges of about 3-6, usually 4-5, will effectively enter into or at least play a significant role in the chillproofing and haze elimination reactions.

Products of this invention are particularly useful when employed in filtering devices designed to promote maximum contacting consistent with practical throughput. Such devices are preferably maintained at temperatures affording optimum enzymatic activity with heat exchangers serving to heat and cool the beverage prior to and after treatment. Alternatively the insoluble enzyme products are admixed with batches of beverage such as during latter stages of fermentation of beer or during low temperature storage and/ or pasteurization. In the first case the enzymeproducts are removed during rough filtration while in the latter instance they are removed in a final filtration prior to bottling. A subsequent pasteurization in the capped bottles may also be advantageous. A substantial amount of the original enzymatic activity remains in the residue on the filter and this can be introduced into the next batch when batch processing is employed.

12. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following Preparations and Examples are given by way of illustration only, and are not to be construed as limiting.

EXPERIMENTAL-PREPARATION OF POLYMER- ENZYME PRODUCTS The general procedure employed consisted of allowing cold solutions of enzymes in appropriate buflers to react overnight at 4 C. with cold, homogenized polymer, e.g., EMA, suspensions. EMA-21 was preferably employed, which had a molecular weight of ca. 2030,000. Other molecular Weight polymers may also be used. For example, EMA-ll, having a molecular weight of about 2- 3,000, and EMA-31, having a molecular weight of about 60,000, may also be employed. Separation of soluble and insoluble adducts, after reaction, was achieved by centrifugation in the cold (Sorval SS-3 (TM) centrifuge, ca. 10,000 r.p.m. and 10 min. centrifugation time). Insoluble adducts were washed (and centrifuged), usually ten times With cold buffer and five times with cold distilled Water and then lyophilized. Addition of a small amount of a crosslinker, e.g., hexamethylenediamine, in 1 to 2% concentration by weight, based upon the amount of polymer employed, to the reaction mixture increases yields of desired insoluble product.

The reaction of the polymer with the plurality of enzymes, as in some of the examples, can obviously be carried out stepwise, one enzyme at a time, with or without intermediate isolation, or with all enzymes at once. The latter procedure is preferred for reasons of time, convenience, and economy.

PREPARATION 1 Water-insoluble EMA-papain A solution of 0.5 gram of crystalline papain is suspended in 55 ml. of 0.05 M acetate butter, pH 4.5, until a clear solution is obtained. The papain solution is added with stirring to a cold (0-05 C.) homogenized suspension of 2.5 g. of EMA-2l copolyrner in 250 ml. of 0.1 M phosphate buffer at a pH of 7.6, Hexamethylene diamine 1.25 g.) is added to crosslink the polymer-enzyme complex as it is formed. The reaction mixture is stirred overnight at 4 C. The insoluble EMA papain derivative is separated by centrifugation and Washed thoroughly with 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.5, and 0.1 M NaCl until the washings are free from enzymatic activity. Finally the product is washed with water to remove the salt and the product lyophylized yielding 3.2 g. of EMA-papain retaining 67% of the esterase activity found in the initial crystalline papain.

PREPARATION 2 Water-insoluble EMA-Zn papain Crystalline papain (0.1 g.) is dissolved in 60 ml. of a solution containing 0.005 M cysteine and 0.002 M EDTA at a pH of 6, this solution being aged at 37 C. for 15 min. prior to addition of papain. Zinc chloride (0.125 g.) is dissolved in 10 ml. of 0.005 M tris [tris(hydroxyrnethyl) aminomethane] buffer at pH 8.0 and added to the papain solution. Excess zinc and chloride ions are then removed by exhaustive dialysis against 0.005 M tris buffer and then against 0.005 M phosphate buffer. This product is used without isolation to attach it to EMA2l. Lyophilization of an aliquot indicates a yield of Zn-papain of 77%.

The EMA-Zn-papain is prepared by chilling a volume of the Zn-papain suspension containing 12 mg. of the zinc salt to 0 C. and adding 60 mg. of EMA (dissolved in 5 ml. of dimethylsulfoxide) to the chilled Znpapain with vigorous stirring. The crosslinking agent (1 ml. of a 1% hexamethylenediamine aqueous solution) is then added and the mixture stirred overnight at 4 C, The insoluble 13 EMA-Zn papain is then recovered by centrifugation followed by washing with water.

Prior to use in chillproofing of beverages the Zn can be removed by treating a suspension with a solution containing cysteine and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). The product upon removal of the Zn possesses 78% of its initial esterase activity. The insoluble EMA-Zn papain can be used in treating beverages without removal of the Zn with a somewhat lower activity, possibly aided by partial removal of Zn by components of the beverage.

PREPARATION 3 Insoluble EMA/pepsin Insoluble EMA pepsin is prepared in a manner substantially the same as described in Preparation 1. Optimum activity for the insoluble enzyme product is found at 1-2 pH units higher than that for the pure pepsin.

PREPARATION 4 Insoluble EMA-acid protease from A. oryzae The acid protease isolated from A. oryzae is attached to EMA-21 substantially as described in Preparation 1.

PREPARATION 5 Insoluble EMA-pepsin/papain A 50:50 mixture (by Weight) of pepsin and papain is attached to EMA-21 in a manner substantially described in Preparation 1, resulting in the covalent binding of both enzymes to the insoluble polymeric network. The product contains 48% of the original papain activity and 38% of the original pepsin activity.

PREPARATION 6 Insoluble EMA/neutral and alkaline protease and amylase product The crude B. subtilis enzyme mixture containing the specified enzymes (0.8 g.) is suspended in cold distilled water (60 ml.) and stirred magnetically for one hour at 4 C. The resulting mixture is then centrifuged at 8,000 rpm, for ten minutes to remove any suspended and inactive solids. The supernatant is separated and made 0.065 M in calcium ion by the addition of 1 M Ca(OAc) and the solution is then stirred for thirty minutes in the cold (4 C.). The mixture is then centrifuged at 8,000 rpm. for ten minutes to remove precipitated and inactive solids. To the clarified supernatant there is added, with stirring, cold 0.05 M veronal buffer, pH 7.8. While the above solutions are being prepared, EMA (0.1 g.) (B. subtilis enzymes: EMA-21, 8:1 w./w.) is dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide (10 ml.). This solution is added dropwise to the stirred, cold enzyme solution (vide supra) and the mixture is then stirred overnight at 4 C. The mixture is then centrifuged at 8,000 r.p.m. for ten minutes and the solid product is collected. The solid adduct is washed using twice its volume of cold, distilled water, with stirring and centrifugation. The adducts are washed in this manner fifteen times and the product then isolated by lyophilization. The enzymatic activities of the mixed enzyme product are as follows: Amylase 405,000 u./g.; neutral protease 1,090,000 u./g.; alkaline protease 680,000 u./g.

In another preparation in accord with the foregoing, a crosslinking agent (2 ml. of 1% hexamethylenediamine aqueous solution) was added to further insolubilize the product.

PREPARATION 7 B. subtilis neutral and alkaline proteases and amylase/EMA insoluble adduct B. subtilis AM neutral and alkaline proteases and amylase mixture (250 mg.) is dissolved in 100 ml cold 0.1 M in phosphate and 0.01 M in calcium acetate, pH 7.5, and to this solution is added a homogenized mixture of EMA-21 (200 mg.) suspended in 50 ml. cold 0.1 M phosphate, pH 7.5. The mixture is stirred overnight in the cold (4 C.) and the insoluble material is separated from the supernatant by centrifugation. After washing the solids five times with cold 01 M NaCl and twice with water, the material is lyophilized to yield a solid which possesses 32% of the original neutral protease activity, 48% of the original alkaline protease activity, and 62% of the original amylase activity. The amount of insoluble product produced is increased by employing 12% of hexamethylenediamine, based upon the amount of EMA employed, as crosslinker in the reaction.

The ratio of the activity of the alkaline protease to the activity of the neutral protease in the starting materials and in the polymer-enzyme product is preferably no greater than about 0.25 to 1.2 to one.

EXAMPLE 1 Use of insoluble EMA-papain in beverage chillproofing (during fermentation) One hundred barrels of wort is prepared using 60% malt and 40% corn grits. To the wort at 47 F. is added the brewers yeast and this is allowed to ferment for twenty-four hours. At this time, 75.7 grams of an insoluble EMA-papain polymer as prepared in Preparation 1 is added. This product has 300 tyrosine units per mg. as defined by the proteolytic assay of Weissler and Garza (Ann. Proc. Amer. Soc., Brew. Chemist 1965, pp. 225- 238). After fermentation is complete (an additional 96 hours), the beer with the EMA-papain product suspended as a gel is decanted from the settled yeast, stored for seven days at 3 C., filtered, carbonated, stored for 4-5 additional days at low temperature, polished, filtered, bottled and pasteurized. The beer produced by this method has superior clarity, stability, and a decidedly improved taste as compared with beer made in the traditional manner by the addition of soluble papain in the cellar, essentially all enzymes having been removed therefrom by filtration removal of insolubles.

The EMA-papain is manually removed from the filter, washed with 1 liter of 0.1 NaOH, filtered, followed by two washes with 1 liter of 0.2 M acetic acid and two washes with 1 liter of water.

This Washed, used polymer-enzyme product is then put into another one hundred barrel batch of fermenting wort which is treated as described above with the same results.

EXAMPLE 2 Use of insoluble EMA-papain in beverage chill proofing (in Ruh stage with pasteurization) To 9.3 kg. of filtered carbonated ruh beer in a five gallon stainless steel carbonated beverage can is added 62 mg. of an EMA-papain insoluble polymer prepared as in Preparation 2, having after removal of Zn ions an activity of 300 tyrosine u./mg. The can is sealed and mixed by tipping end to end several times. The CO pressure is raised to ten pounds and the can then stored in a cooler at 0 C. for seven days with daily mixing. At this time the beer is pasteurized in the can at 60 C. for fifteen minutes and then immediately cooled. The beer is filtered through a 0.22 U millipore filter, by which filtration the insoluble polymer-enzyme product is removed, and then bottled and again pasteurized. Clarity, stability, and taste is superior to the traditional beer and the product maintains these favorable characteristics 612 months longer than conventionally chillproofed beer.

EXAMPLE 3 Use of insoluble EMA-papain in beverage chillprofing (Ruh stage-ce1lar storage treatment) To two hundred barrels of carbonated ruh beer in storage is added 151.2 grams of EMA-papain as prepared in Preparation 2. A slow stream of CO is allowed to enter at the bottom of the tank to allow some agitation of the polymer. This treatment persists for thirty days in the cellar. At this time, the beer is filtered (insoluble enzyme being removed in the process), bottled and pasteurized. The product is characterized by favorable and stable properties of clarity and taste.

EXAMPLE 4 Use of insoluble EMA-pepsin in beverage chillproofing Ruh stagecellar storage treatment) To two hundred barrels of carbonated ruh beer in storage is added 305 grams of EMA-pepsin as prepared in Preparation 3. A slow stream of CO is allowed to enter at the bottom of the tank to allow some agitation of the polymer. This treatment persists for thirty days in the cellar. At this time, the beer is filtered, bottled and pasteurized. Superior beer properties are achieved when compared to treatment with native pepsin. This is a tributable in part to an increase of 1-2 pH units in the optimum-pH performance, bringing this acid protease to an optimum pH more nearly coinciding with that of the naural pH of the beer (4-5).

When the treatments of Examples 1, 2, or 3 and 4 are combined, by using both EMA-papain and EMA-pepsin together, the advantages of both are realized. The product is again an essentially enzyme-free characterized by favorable and advantageous stable properties of taste and remarkable clarity.

EXAMPLE 5 Use of insoluble EMA-acid protease in beverage chillproofing (storage beerheat exchanger flow-through treatment) Two hundred barrels of chilled storage beer is passed through a heat exchange column packed with three pounds of insolubilized EMA-acid protease (A. oryzae) as prepared in Preparation 4. This column is maintained at 50 C. and at a flow rate of four gallons per minute. The effiuent temperature is held at that of the influent by supplemental cooling oils. The beer is then filtered, bottled and pasteurized according to traditional methods. Clarity, stability, and taste of the beer is markedly improved and the bottle beverage has exceptional shelf life especially with regard to clarity and taste.

When the treatments of Examples 1, 2, or 3 and 5 are combined, by using both EMA-papain and EMA-acid protease together, the advantages of both are realized. Once more the product is an essentially enzyme-free beer which is characterized by favorable and advantageous stable properties of taste and exceptional clarity.

EXAMPLE 6 'Use of insoluble EMA-pepsin/papain in beverage chillproofing The insoluble mixed-enzyme polymer product of Preparation 5 is used for clarification of beer as described in Example 2. A beer is produced which exhibits superior resistance to formation of haze upon chilling and which has marked improvement of flavor when compared to that treated with a single enzyme or enzyme-polymer product.

EXAMPLE 7 Use of insoluble EMA/neutral and alkaline proteaseamylase in beverage chillprooiing The insoluble mixed-enzyme polymer product of Preparation 6 or 7 is packed in a column as described in Example 5 and the clarification process carried out substantially as described therein. A superior clarification is observed and is related to the multiple attack of the mixed enzyme preparation on the several components which normally make up the haze complex.

When the treatments of Examples 1, 2, or 3 and Example 7 are combined, by using both EMA-papain and the EMA/ neutral and alkaline protease and amylase prodnot together, the advantages of both are again realized. The product is once more an essentially enzyme-free beer characterized by favorable and advantageous stable properties of taste and remarkable clarity.

1 6 EXAMPLE 8 Use of insoluble papain-styrene/maleic anhydride copolymers in beverage chillproofing Coupling of crystalline papain to an alternating styrenemaleic anhydride (1:1) copolymer, in aqueous buffer medium using the conventional procedure of Preparation 1 at carrier to enzyme ratios of 1:3 to 5:1, yields insoluble polymer-papain derivatives having up to about 20% of the original enzymatic activity.

Employment of mercury or zinc papain, according to the procedure of Preparation 2 produces the same result, with somewhat greater facility and a somewhat higher percentage of initial enzymatic activity in the polymerpapain product.

This product is remarkably effective in clarifying beverages when employed as described in Examples 1-5.

EXAMPLE 9 Use of insoluble chymopapain-vinyl methyl ether/maleic anhydride copolymers in beverage chill-proofing Coupling of crystalline chymopapain to an alternating vinyl methyl ether-maleic anhydride (1: 1) copolymer, in aqueous bufier medium using the conventional procedure of Preparation 2 at carrier to enzyme ratios of 1:3 to 5:1, yields insoluble polymer-chymopapain derivatives having up to about of the original enzymatic activity.

Employment of mercury or zinc 'chymopapain, according to the procedure of Preparation 2, produces the same result with somewhat greater facility and a somewhat higher percentage of initial enzymatic activity in the polymer-papain product.

This product is remarkably effective in clarifying beverages when employed as described in Examples 1-5.

EXAMPLE 10 Use of insoluble bromelain-vinyl acetate/maleic anhydride copolymers-in-beverage chillproofing Coupling of bromelain to an alternating vinyl acetatemaleic anhydride (1:1) copolymer, in aqueous buffer medium using the conventional procedure of Preparation 1 at carrier to enzyme ratios of 1:3 to 5:1, yields insoluble polymer-bromelain derivatives having up to about of the original enzymatic activity.

This product is remarkably effective in clarifying beverages when employed as described in Examples 1-5.

EXAMPLE 1 1 Use of insoluble papain-divinyl ether/maleic anhydride cyclocopolymers in beverage chillproofing Coupling of crude papain to an alternating divinyl ether-maleic anhydride cyclocopolymer (having repeating units consisting of adjacent ethylene-maleic anhydride segments which are additionally bonded to each other by an ether linkage), in aqueous buffer medium using the conventional procedure of Preparation 1 at carrier to enzyme ratios of 1:3 to 5:1, yields insoluble polymercrude papain derivatives having up to about 50% of the original enzymatic activity.

Employment of mercury or zinc crude papain, according to the procedure of Preparation 2, produces the same result with somewhat greater facility and a somewhat higher percentage of initial enzymatic activity in the polymer-crude papain product.

This product is remarkably effective in clarifying beverages when employed as described in Examples 1-5.

EXAMPLE 12 Use of insoluble pepsin-polymaleic anhydride polymers in beverage chillproofing Coupling of crystalline pepsin to a. polymaleic anhydride polymer in aqueous buffer medium using the conventional procedure of Preparation 1 at carrier to enzyme ratios of 1:3 to 5:1, yields insoluble polymer-pepsin temperature at which the polymer-enzyme product is optimally active.

12. Process of claim 10, wherein a portion of the main body of the cool beverage is passed into a reaction zone within which the temperature is maintained at or near the temperature at which the polymer-enzyme product is optimally active, and wherein the beverage is thereafter returned to the main body of the beverage.

13. Process of claim 12, wherein the beverage returning to the main body of the beverage is cooled by a circulating portion of the cool main body of the beverage by means of a heat-exchange reaction.

14. Process of claim 1, wherein the chillproofing is effected using an insoluble polymer-plural enzyme product.

15. Process of claim 1, wherein the chillproofing is effected using a plurality of insoluble polymer-enzyme products.

16. Process of claim 1, wherein the chillproofing is effected using an insoluble polymer-pepsin product.

17. Process of claim 1, wherein the chillproofing is eflected using an insoluble polymer-papain product.

18. Process of claim 1, wherein the chillproofing is effected using an insoluble polymer-acid protease product.

19. Process of claim 15, wherein the chillproofing is effected using insoluble polymer-pepsin and polymerpapain products.

20. Process of claim 15, wherein the chillproofing is effected using both an insoluble polymer-enzyme product and an insoluble polymer-plural enzyme product.

21. Process of claim 20, wherein the plurality of enzymes in the polymer-plural enzyme product comprises neutral protease and amylase.

22. Process of claim 20, wherein the insoluble polymerenzyme product is a polymer-papain product and wherein the plurality of enzymes in the polymer-plural enzyme product comprises neutral protease, and amylase.

23. Process of claim 15, wherein the chillproofing is effected using polymer-papain and polymer-acid protease products.

24. Process of claim 14, wherein the chillproofing is etfected using an insoluble polymer-papain/ pepsin product.

25. Process of claim 14, wherein the chillproofing is effected using an insoluble polymer-papain/ acid protease product.

26. Process of claim 14, wherein the chillproofing is effected using an insoluble polymer-papain/neutral protease product.

27. Process of claim 14, wherein the chillproofing is effected using an insoluble polymer-neutral protease/ alkaline protease/ amylase product.

28. Process of claim 1, wherein the polymer of the enzyme-polymer product employed is an EMA-type polymer.

29. Process of claim 1, wherein the enzyme moiety of the polymer-enzyme product employed comprises at least one enzyme selected from the group consisting of papain, neutral protease, acid protease, and ficin.

30. Process of claim 29, wherein the polymer of the enzyme-polymer product employed is EMA.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,811,449 10/1957 Witwer et al. 99-48 3,095,358 6/1963 Meister 99-48X 3,146,107 8/1964 Elder et al 9948X 3,157,595 11/1964 Johnson et al. 21054 3,282,702 11/1966 Schreiner 63X OTHER REFERENCES Levin et al., A Water-Insoluble Polyanionic Derivative of Trypsin. 1. Preparation and Properties, Biochemistry vol. 3, No. 12, December 1964 (page 1905), pp. 501-1352.

D. M. NAFF, Assistant Examiner LIONEL M. SHAPIRO, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 99-105, 106

1 7 derivatives having up to about 70% of the original enzymatic activity.

This product, alone or in combination with one or more of the insoluble polymer-enzyme products of the foregoing and following Examples and Preparations, especially the products of Preparations 1, 2, 4 and 6, is effective in clarifying beverages when employed as described in Examples l-5.

EXAMPLE 13 Use of insoluble dextranase-polyacrylic anhydride and other polymers in beverage chillproofing Coupling of crystalline dextranese to a polyacrylic anhydride polymer, in aqueous bufier medium using the conventional procedure of Preparation 1 at carrier to enzyme ratios of 1:3 to :1, yields insoluble polymerdextranase derivatives having up to about 50% of the original enzymatic activity.

This product, alone or in combination with one or more of the insoluble polymer-enzyme products of the foregoing Examples and Preparations, especially the prod ucts of Preparations l-5 and Examples 1-7, is remarkably effective in clarifying beverages when employed as described in Examples 1-5. The beverage product, in addition to being clear, stable, and tasteful, is of reduced caloric content.

In the same manner, the identically useful enzymepolymer product is produced from polyacrylic acid, using Woodwards reagent, N-ethyl-S-phenyl isooxazolium-3'- sulfonate, as activator for the carboxyl groups of the polyacrylic acid.

Similar results are also obtained using polyglutamic acid and polyamic acid as the starting carboxyl-containing polymer and papain, bromelin, ficin, or dextrauese as the starting enzyme and employing the insoluble product in beer clarification according to Examples 1-5.

EXAMPLE 14 Use of other insoluble polymer-enzyme products in beverage chillproofing The following insoluble polymer-enzyme products, prepared in accord with the procedure of the foregoing preparations, and each possessing a substantial proportion of the enzymatic activity of the starting native enzyme from which prepared, are employed in the chillproofing of beverages according to the procedures of Examples 1-5, either alone or in combination with other polymer-enzyme products:

EMA-neutral protease, alkaline protease, and diastase insoluble products;

B. subtilis neutral and alkaline protease/ EMA insoluble adducts;

B. subtilis neutral protease and amylase/EMA insoluble adducts;

B. subtilis neutral protease, papain and pepsin/EMA insoluble adducts;

Neutral protease/pepsin-styrene/maleic anhydride copolymers;

Neutral protease/papain-vinyl methyl ether/maleic anhydride copolymers;

Neutral protease/ alkaline protease /amylase-viny1 acetate/ maleic anhydride copolymers;

Neutral protease/papain-divinyl ether/maleic anhydride cyclocopolymers;

Neutral protease/pepsin-polymaleic anhydride polymers;

Papain-polymaleic anhydride polymers;

Neutral protease/alkaline protease/papain-polyacrylic anhydride polymers;

Papain-polyacrylic anhydride polymers;

Acid protease/papain-EMA;

Papain/neutral protease/amyIase-EMA;

B. subtilis neutral protease, papain and amylase-EMA insoluble adducts; and

Insoluble EMA adducts with neutral protease and dextranase The results of the chillproofing treatment are similar to those obtained in Examples 1-5. The beverage is essentially enzyme-free, tasteful, and stable, with a remarkable clarity and brilliance even after chilling for long periods before opening for consumption either while chilled or after allowing to warm to room temperature.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of operation or exact compounds, compositions, or procedures shown and described, as obvious modifications and equivalents will be apparent to one skilled in the art, and the invention is therefore to be limited only by the full scope of the appended claims, including the application of the doctrine of equivalents thereto.

We claim:

1. Process for the chillproofing of a beverage with the production of a chillproofed beverage from which enzymatic activity used in the chillproofing has been removed, comprising the step of contacting the beverage at a stage in its production prior to final packaging with an insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product in which the enzyme is covalently bound, said insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product being enzymatically active within the pH range of the beverage treated at the time of treatment, maintaining the insoluble enz-ymatically-active polymer-enzyme product and beverage in contact for a sufiicient period to allow the insoluble enzymatically upon components of the beverage which lead to sediment and haze in the beverage, and thereafter removing insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product from the beverage, wherein the chillproofing is effected using a polymer-enzyme product in which the polymer is selected from the group consisting of:

ethylene/maleic anhydride copolymer, styrene/maleic anhydride copolymer,

vinyl methyl ether/maleic anhydride copolymer, vinylacetate/maleic anhydride copolymer, divinyl ether/maleic anhydride cyclocopolymer, polymaleic anhydride, and polyacrylic anhydride.

2. Process of claim 1, wherein the insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product is recovered and recycled in the process.

3. Process of claim 1, wherein removal of the insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product from the beverage leaves the beverage essentially enzymefree.

4. Process of claim 1, wherein the beverage treated is a malt beverage.

5. Process of claim 1, wherein the beverage treated is a fermented malt beverage.

6. Process of claim 1, wherein the beverage treated is beer or ale.

7. Process of claim 1, wherein the beverage treated is a fermented malt beverage and wherein the insoluble enzymatically-active polymerenzyme product is added to the wort prior to completion of the fermentation stage.

8. Process of claim 1, wherein the beverage is a termented malt beverage and wherein the insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product is added to the rub form of the beverage.

9. Process of claim 8, wherein the ruh form of the beverage to which the insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product is added is heated to a temperature at which the insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product is highly active.

10. Process of claim 1, wherein the beverage is passed over or through a column containing the insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product for purposes of effecting the reaction.

11. Process of claim 10, wherein the column containing the insoluble enzymatically-active polymer-enzyme product is maintained at a temperature at or near the UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 597 219 Dated 3 August 197].

Inventor(s) Bernard il i 8 81. -l-

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 54 "treatements" Application Page 1, line 29: should read treatments Column 3, line 28 "contribution" Application Page 5, line 6: should read contribute Column 4, line 22 "beed" Application Page 7, line 4: should read beer Column 4, line 29 "enzmes" Application Page 7, line 11: should read enzymes Column 4, line 35 "Euch" Application Page 7, line 17: should read Such Column 4, line 44 "ph" Application Page 7, line 25: should read Column 6, line 57 "alphatic acylalkylene) Application Page 12, line 6: should read aliphatic acyloxyalkylene) *ORM P0-1050 (10-69) uscowwoc cone-ps9 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 19 Dated 3 August 1971 2 Inventor(s) Bernard Wlldl 81: a1.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 7, line 36 "amines" Application Page 13, line 20: should read amides Column 7, line 50 monomers" Application Page 14, line 1: should read monomers.

Column 7, lines 54 and 55 "copolymer including hydroxy Application Page 14, lines lactone amine" 4 and 5: should read copolymer, including hydroxy, lactone, amine Column 8, line 1 "pheny" Application Page 14, line 24: should read phenyl Column 8, line 2 "carboxy" Application Page 14, line 25: should read carboxyl Column ll, line 55 "polymerenzyme" Application Page 22, line 32 should read Page 23, line 1: polymer-enzyme Column 12, line 41 "(0-05 c.) Application Page 24, line 19: should read UBCOMM-DC 60376-P69 Patent 3,597,219 Dated 3 August 1971 I Inventor(s) Bernard 5 Wildi et al --3-- It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 13, line 28 "substantially described" Application Page 26, line 3: should read substantially that described Column 14, line 67 "chillprofing" Application Page 29, line 11: should read chillproofing Column 15, line 15 "a tributable" Application Page 29, line 20: should read attributable Column 15, line 18 "naural" Application Page 29, line 23: should read natural Column 15, line 40 "bottle".

Application Page 30, line 7 Should read bottled Column 16, line 38 "copolymers-in-beverage" Application Page 31, line 31: should read *copolymers in beverage Column 17, line 13 "dextranese" Application Page 33, line 3: should read dextranase -0RM P0-1050 (IO-69) USCOMM-DC scan-poo UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC- ""y T n n m f T n H Carl 1 lFLLA l L QF bOfifiEbTiON Patent No. 3, 597, 219 Dated August 3, 1971.

Invencofls) Bernard S. Wildi, et al. -4-

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 18, Claim 1, line 30 "enzymatically. .upon" Application Claim 1, lines should read 11-12: enzymatically-active polymerenzyme product to act enzymaticall upon Column 19, Claim 22, line 36 v ,"protease, and" Application Claim 22, line 4: should read protease and Column 20, Claim 27, Lines "protease/alkaline protease/ l0 and 11 i amylase" Application Claim 27, lines should read 2 and 3: protease/amylase Signed and sealed this 11th day of April 197 2.

(SEAL) I Attest:

iDWARQMJLETQHEBgJR. ROBERT GOT'l'SCHALK ttesting OfflGGIT I Commissioner of Patents 

